Nathan Robert Brown - The Mythology of Grimm: The Fairy Tale and Folklore Roots of the Popular TV Show

NO HAPPY ENDINGS

Once upon a time, there was a man who loved writing and mythology... and fandoms... and Grimm. So when this man was given the opportunity to write The Mythology of Grimm, he saw it as a win-win situation. He also had no idea what hed gotten himself into or how this project would completely take over his life.

In case you havent figured it out yet... I am that man.

Id like to start off by stating that this project has occupied nearly every single day of my life for the last seven months or so. It has also been both a joy and an honor to write... and, at times, I worried it might drive me over the edge of madness (but I assure you, it wouldve been worth it in the end even if it had). As I got into the writing of this book, it soon became apparent to me that it was growing into a beast that could not be fed (or, at least, not fed enough). The manuscript had already gone far beyond its allotted word count before it was even three-quarters finished. As a result, I had no choice but to cut some things during the editing process. While I did my best to omit as little as possible, there were just not enough pages available in the final book (which you now hold) for me to fit in every single thing about the Grimm universe that might be considered noteworthy. However, I assure you Ive taken great pains to be as accurate and thorough as possible. To be honest, I now know any book that covers everything having to do with the mythos of the Grimm universe would likely require a multivolume encyclopedia.

As you begin to read, you may notice that the majority of chapters in this book follow a similar format (with a few exceptions here and there). Most include retellings of the original fairy tales on which many Grimm episodes have been based. Why create retellings, you may be wondering? Why not just use the original stories, word for word? Well, to be honest, many of the original fairy tales were written down between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. To put it simply, people wrote very differently in those days. They used words that are no longer in the common vernacular of the English language... and some stories include little language quirks of the past that, for many modern readers, can sometimes be confusing or boringor both. Since one of my main goals with this book was to make it an informative, interesting, and fun/lighthearted read, I decided from the beginning that I would use retellings instead of just quoting the source texts word for word. Anyone can go find the original stories. However, I believe that by retelling these stories I have been able to make them more accessible. Doing so has allowed me to show readers not only the events of these tales, but also the context (and, at times, subtext) of them. I also add a little side comment here and there. Some of these stories have some pretty crazy stuff in them, after all. Why ruin everyones fun by ignoring it? Having spent much of my life in the South, I have learned its often better not to hide your crazy relatives in the basement when you could bring them into the living room and show them off.

I fully realize, of course, that certain folkssuch as literary loyalists and folklore traditionalistsmight be upset with me for retelling these stories in my own words. And I think Im good with that. I decided long before I took on this project that readability and accessibility were far more important than trying to please any would-be critics by sticking to traditional ideas. After all... if